Similar raids have happened before, and they are never sustained over time. Let's see if things change under Monti. If they do, we can be sure that Berlusconi's Pdl party will be ready to bring the government down: the only reactions from the Pdl to the Cortina operation were critical of the 'police state' tactics deployed.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Tax evasion on ice
Looks like the Italian revenue services are taking tax evasion a bit more seriously (did they read this?). Repubblica.it reports that the Venetian tax inspection office "raided" Cortina d'Ampezzo, an emblematic ski resort for the wealthy, and ran a series of inspections of bars and restaurants, with the result that their declared takings since New Year's Day have increased by several hundred per cent compared with the same period last year. A parallel investigation of over 200 luxury automobiles revealed that dozens of them were owned by people whose tax returns reported gross incomes of less than €30,000 per year.
